


The Melody of a Fallen Tree

by Soozen



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Conversations, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Gen, Pining, Pre-Canon, but super mild hurt/comfort, but super mild pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-12 06:28:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29505525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soozen/pseuds/Soozen
Summary: When Ty Lee skips class, Azula goes to find her.---Or, Azula learns that Ty Lee doesn't want to be part of a matched set.
Relationships: Azula & Ty Lee (Avatar), Azula/Ty Lee (Avatar)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 80





	The Melody of a Fallen Tree

**Author's Note:**

> This fic happened because it seemed like in The Beach that Azula already knew a little bit about why Ty Lee ran away to join the circus, while it was new information to Mai and Zuko.

Azula squints, stepping out the back doors of the Royal Fire Academy for Girls. The day is hot, the sky clear and cloudless; it was the perfect sort of day to spend outdoors, the sort of day where, if possible, Azula would shirk her training to have Ty Lee and Mai over.

(Not that it is ever a possibility of getting out of trainings and lessons, but sometimes, she does wish for more time to relax.)

But the unfortunate truth of the matter is that this is not a free day, but a school day, and the only reason Azula is not inside the academy is because Ty Lee is missing. Upon the return to the classroom from bending lessons (during with the non-bending students had their own athletics class), only six of the seven Ty sisters were present. And though Ms. Saelim hadn’t been able to place who was missing, Azula knew immediately, and announced that _she_ would find Ty Lee before abruptly leaving the room.

No one will come stop her, Azula is certain. No one ever stops her, and she suspects it is due to fear of her father’s wrath. And rightly so; the Fire Lord had shown he would not even show leniency to his own son, after all.

Azula strode across the back lawn, adjacent to the open area where the non-benders were taught whatever it was they learned. From the vast range between Ty Lee’s stealthy gymnastics and Mai’s accuracy with knives, Azula could only imagine what sort of things went on while she was busy outshining even the instructors at this school. But, from their free period after lunch, Azula knew where she was likely to find Ty Lee.

There is a small grove of maple trees, providing the optimal shading during the brightest part of the day, an area claimed by Azula several years ago, so no other students ever dared go near them. More often than not, Ty Lee would climb them, dangling upside down from the lower branches to talk, or hiding away on the higher branches. The trees are not remarkably tall, but leafy enough to provide coverage from anyone who might want to hide, should a student decide to skip class.

Reaching the first tree, Azula stands at its trunk, peering up, before moving onto the next.

“I’m over here.”

Azula whips around, eyes scanning the few remaining trees, before catching sight of a shock of pink through the foliage. A single eyebrow raises, but she moves quickly to that tree, peering up at Ty Lee, who is out of her uniform and instead in that pink outfit she likes best.

“Teacher knows you’re missing,” Azula points out. “You’re going to get in _loads_ of trouble for cutting.”

But Ty Lee doesn’t move, and it is not what is expected. Instead, she remains perched on her branch, not looking down at Azula, but out and over the field.

“Do you want to come sit with me?” Ty Lee asks, and it’s a stupid question. They aren’t supposed to be sitting in trees right now. They are supposed to be in class, where Azula is supposed to be the perfect picture of a Fire Nation girl, the image of what all other girls should strive to be.

But sitting in the shade with her closest friend certainly sounds a lot more enjoyable than whatever lecture they would endure inside.

“Fine,” she huffs, as if it is a chore and she is merely appeasing Ty Lee.

Azula is not quite as nimble as Ty Lee, nor as fast, but she still climbs the tree with ease. Ty Lee has moved over on the branch to make room for Azula, and in her lap is her school uniform, haphazardly folded.

“Ms. Saelim’s going to be furious you changed out of uniform,” she says, nodding at Ty Lee’s lap.

Ty Lee follows her gaze, and places a hand over the clothes. Her expression is strange. Not happy. Her usual smile, the light in her eyes, it’s all missing. Azula has heard Ty Lee go on enough about auras, more than she’d ever care to hear, and it is certainly a topic she’s never put much thought to or believed in, but right now…she might. There is a heaviness surrounding Ty Lee.

“I don’t want to wear it anymore.” Ty Lee doesn’t speak loudly, and her voice isn’t quite sad, but it is far from the chipper excitement she usually bears.

To say Azula doesn’t like it puts it mildly. She’s kept Ty Lee as a friend for a number of reasons, one of which is that her mood is consistent, predictable. And she tells herself that this is the reason why she wants Ty Lee to be happy again, that it is the only reason.

“It’s just clothes,” Azula replies, examining her fingernails, because it is easier to do that than look at Ty Lee, not while she’s so sullen. “Who cares? It’s not like you have to wear it all the time. And besides, _you_ get to break dress code every day.”

And she tugs at Ty Lee’s braid, gentler than she normally would, because Ty Lee looks strangely close to tears. It is the end of the braid she touches, at the pink ribbon that ties it there, and there is a matching one at the crown of her head. Each of the septuplets wear ribbons in their hair, brightly colored and all different, so that the teachers and instructors can tell them apart.

Ty Lee pulls her braid over her shoulder, running her fingers over the ribbon, and shakes her head. “It’s not enough. No one knows who I am.”

Azula cannot stop the scoff that escapes her. But really, is Ty Lee serious? “Ty Lee, you are _famous_ ,” she reminds her, unable to believe that Ty Lee has forgotten this.

But Ty Lee is still shaking her head. “No. The ‘Ty Septuplets’ are famous. I’m not.”

“You aren’t making any sense.”

Ty Lee scowls, and rubs her face; and Azula can’t be certain if this is simply to hide her expression. When she pulls her hands way, however, a small smile replaces the scowl, one that doesn’t quite reach her eyes.

“I know,” Ty Lee says, and the chipper tone she takes on is _shocking_. “I’m sorry, I’m just being silly—”

“Stop.”

Mid-sentence, Ty Lee goes silent, staring at Azula in shock, who is shifting carefully, maintaining her balance on the tree branch, but needing to better face her friend.

“What is this, you were just so— so upset, and now you’re back to your usual self?” Her eyes narrow on Ty Lee. “Are you _faking_? That’s like lying, Ty Lee. Don’t lie.”

And Ty Lee shrinks, shoulders hunching, and that false sweetness fades away, and Azula finds herself relieved. Relieved that Ty Lee listened, and that this right now is an honest Ty Lee before her.

“Sorry Azula.”

She waves off the apology, focused instead on what Ty Lee had just attempted to hide. “Explain. What’s going on?”

And she watches as Ty Lee takes in a breath, and nods, and wets her lips, and looks up at the red leaves that surround them. She speaks, and it is strange, because she’s serious again, and the sweetness of her voice does not match the sadness in her voice. “If I go into the school, and I don’t have my ribbon, and neither do my sisters, how many people do you think will know who I am?”

It’s fascinating, Azula thinks. That Ty Lee _can_ be this way. That Ty Lee can be someone who is not radiating sunshine, that Ty Lee for once doesn’t match the pink ribbon she wears, that Ty Lee is more resembling _Mai_ in this moment. It is fascinating, and Azula hates it.

But not enough to make her stop talking. Curiosity has taken its hold, and she has to understand _what_ could possibly be making Ty Lee be so down.

“That’s hardly a reasonable expectation. You _are_ identical.”

The words do no sound harsh, even as she says them. But somehow, inexplicably, they _are_ , because that sadness in Ty Lee suddenly spills out, and Azula has made her best friend _cry_. She can only watch, frozen in shock as Ty Lee crumples forward to hold her face in her hands, somehow still balanced perfectly on the branch as she tries to hide her tears.

In all of her twelve years, Azula has never once had to comfort another person. There is no instinct now, only the realization that her words have affected Ty Lee this way, and that she _hates_ it. Cautiously, she shifts closer to her, and awkwardly places a hand on her shoulder, recalling the way she remembers seeing mother do so with Zuko before she disappeared.

Slowly, slowly, Ty Lee calms down and her tears dry, and she lifts her head, looking to Azula with red eyes and pink cheeks, and this evokes something, something deep in Azula, an urge in her to wipe those tears away.

(She doesn’t, because it feels much too intimate, and she cannot calculate the reaction such an act would garner; and she’s learning that Ty Lee is so much harder to read and predict than she had ever thought.)

But Ty Lee forces a small smile— not a fake one like before, not masking her thoughts and her feelings, but as a sort of gesture to Azula, a thank you.

“I just want to be me,” Ty Lee whispers. “Not part of a set. Just me.” With the heel of her palm, she brushes away her tears. “I hate feeling lost in a crowd. I want to feel…special.”

Azula cannot hold the sharp laugh that bursts forth, if only from the absolute _absurdity_ of the statement. She has to speak quickly, explain what she was amused by, because Ty Lee looks heartbroken, crestfallen, and she can _not_ handle another crying fit.

“Ty Lee, you _are_ special. Do you really think I would keep the dull and drab as my company?” Azula shakes her head, unable to believe that Ty Lee really sees herself in such a way. And Ty Lee’s eyes open wider, and it is more than obvious that, perhaps, this is the first Ty Lee has ever heard this. “Use your head. It’s not a mistake that you are my friend, and none of your sisters are.”

The seven Ty sisters may have identical features, but none hold the same manners as Ty Lee. All try to suck up to her, but none have ever been convincing, not in the way Ty Lee is. None are as sweet as Ty Lee, none are as amused in teasing other girls in class. Azula has never been drawn to any of the other septuplets in her life the way she has been with Ty Lee.

“Really?” And another smile, but genuine.

Azula rolls her eyes. “Of course Ty Lee. And don’t forget those acrobatic moves you do; I’ve only ever seen professionals do what you are able to do.”

For a moment, there is something else in Ty Lee’s expression, a thought, an idea (which is surely strange, for Azula has never seen her come up with an idea of her own), but then it disappears into a happier look, another smile. “You’ve seen real acrobats? When?”

“When the circus came through last month; we had a private showing at the palace.”

“And you really think I’m just as good as those acrobats?”

Fishing for compliments; normally, Azula absolutely abhors such obvious tactics, but considering the state Ty Lee had been in just a moment ago, she allows it, and encourages it. “Obviously.”

The hug she receives should not have been such a surprise, but as always, she leans into it, hugging Ty Lee just as tightly as she is being held. And, as always, the hugs end too quickly.

Sometimes, she wonders if Ty Lee knows how much of a gift it is that she is so comfortable in hugging others.

But Ty Lee is looking down at the ground, where her uniform had fallen to during their embrace. “Oh. Oops.”

That is all that is needed to jolt Azula back to reality, that they are sitting in a tree on school grounds, in the middle of class; that she had come out to retrieve Ty Lee.

“Come on, let’s get out of this tree,” Azula says with a shake of her head, and leads the way back down to the grassy ground. Ty Lee, of course, somehow, makes jumping down from the tree graceful and elegant; how she is so lithe is beyond comprehension.

She picks up Ty Lee’s uniform, inspecting it, before holding it out to her. “You’re lucky; it didn’t get very dirty. You can change back into it in the lavatory, but we should be quick. Ms. Saelim isn’t likely to be happy with how long you’ve been gone.”

Ty Lee takes the clothing, but shakes her head. “I think…. I think I’m just going to go home.”

 _That_ was an absolutely idiotic idea. “You’re going to get in trouble either way, but you’ll be in bigger trouble if leave school early,” Azula points out, arms folded over her chest. Truly, Ty Lee needs to learn to think things through.

“I know,” Ty Lee nods. “But that’s okay. I’ll be okay.”

Again, Azula wants Ty Lee to consider her decision a little more closely, because the headmaster is likely to encourage a harsh punishment from her parents, not to mention an even harsher one during school hours. she can also see that Ty Lee isn’t likely to change her mind.

So, she turns her head and sighs for effect. “Fine. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Ty Lee only smiles again, smaller, sadder. And she hesitates, Azula can see it in how she stands and how she keeps looking as if she might say something, before she blurts out, “Azula, do you like letters?”

“Letters?”

“Like, receiving them? When people go away on vacations, or travel?”

Azula has never received such a letter. Her brother certainly hasn’t written one in the year he’s been away, and all is silent from their mother. The last letter she can think of being read was from her uncle, back when he was still heir to the throne and had a son and honor.

“I suppose so,” she responds with a shrug.

The answer pleases Ty Lee in some strange way, and for the second time that day, Azula finds herself enveloped in a tight hug. This one is not so short.

“Thank you,” Ty Lee whispers with her arms around Azula’s middle, her chin on her shoulder. Azula doesn’t respond until they step away, and she no longer has Ty Lee’s warmth to cling to.

“Well, I suppose I’ll just see you tomorrow?” she says, taking a half step back towards the building.

"Of course, Azula." The words come so easily, that Azula will think of this moment for days and weeks and months to come, wondering if Ty Lee had known at that very moment that she was lying, and lying with the sweetest of smiles. "I'll see you tomorrow."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. Please let me know what you think.
> 
> Follow me on tumblr @soozenwrites for writing updates and fandom nonsense.


End file.
